Chambers's Elementary Science Readers Part 13

8. 'Now she is pecking about for food,' said Harry.

Tom said that fowls were always eating.

'They are greedy things,' said Kate.

9. 'Oh, look at this gray hen!' said Harry, 'she picked up a bit of stone just now and ate it! Does she know no better?'

10. 'It is not for food,' Mary told him; 'she takes it to grind up the hard seeds she has swallowed. They all go into a strong little bag, and the stones rub and press on the seeds.'

11. 'I never heard of such a thing! She keeps a mill inside to grind her food!'

12. The others laughed, and then Mary went in to get some eggs. After the basket was filled, the two children said good-bye to their friends, and went home.

THE SPARROW.

shoots spar'-rows steal fruit thou'-sand ba'-bies build spoil beaks ap'-ple blos'-som fruit clean thirst'-y wheat throw

1. 'Mother,' cried Harry, running in one day, 'Jack Denny says he shoots sparrows!'

'I am very sorry to hear it. Why does he shoot them?'

'"They steal fruit and corn," he says. He wanted me to throw stones at them!'

2. 'Well, you can tell him about some silly men who killed the sparrows and other birds, and the next year their fruit and corn were eaten up by grubs. Even the leaves on the trees were eaten.'

3. 'Is this true?'

'Quite true. They had to send for little birds from other places to live in their fields and gardens. Do you know that a sparrow kills four thousand grubs in one day when her babies are in the nest?

4. 'One wise man who grows fruit says that his best friends are the sparrows, and he makes holes in the garden-walls for them to build in.

Their sharp eyes see the tiny things that would spoil the fruit, and their sharp beaks nip them up at once.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

5. 'He loves to see sparrows in an apple-tree in blossom-time; he knows they are saving the apples for him.'

'But Jack says he has seen them pecking at fruit.'

6. 'Yes, they like fruit, just as you and I do. But there would be no fruit at all, if the birds did not eat the grubs.

7. 'The man I was telling you about puts nets over his trees when the fruit begins to ripen. And I heard only the other day that it is a good plan to put pans of clean fresh water close to the trees and bushes.

Then the birds will not go so often to the fruit. They are thirsty and hot, poor things!

8. 'And there would be no corn, if the birds did not kill the wheat-fly's grubs.'

9. When Harry heard all this, he made up his mind not to throw stones at the sparrows, as Jack wanted him to do.

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY.

but'-ter-flies mer'-ry gath'-ered broth'-er flow'-ers...o...b..iged'

roamed scoured pleas'-ant cheese hedge ease brook'-let crys'-tal thrush mus'-ic

1. Where the bees and b.u.t.terflies Skim the gra.s.sy down, Four merry little children Gathered from the town;

2. Ragged little Johnnie, And his brother Ben, With wild-flowers are laden, These merry little men.

Kate and Mat have posies Of colours bright and gay, For Tim, their tiny brother, At home obliged to stay.

3. They have roamed the meadow, They have scoured the wood, Seeking nuts and blackberries, For their pleasant food.

With their nuts and blackberries And bits of bread and cheese, On a mossy hedge-bank, Now they take their ease.

4. Drinking from the brooklet 'Neath the hawthorn tree, Clear it runs as crystal, Fresh and bright and free.

And the thrush sings loudly On the hawthorn spray, And the brooklet ever Makes music on its way.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

SOME HERBS.

stream through grav'-el mar'-ket tea lett'-uce tongue mus'-tard pow'-der sprin'-kled flan'-nel car'-ried pars'-ley thyme herbs sage

1. A little stream ran through one of the farmer's fields. The water was so clear that you could see the sand and gravel at the bottom, and in it there grew plenty of water-cress.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Water-cress.]

2. Harry went one afternoon to help Johnny and Tom to pick it for market, and brought a big bunch home for tea.

3. His mother had picked a lettuce from the garden, and some mustard and cress, and they were all put on one plate.

'They bite my tongue,' said Dora, 'all but the lettuce. I like it best.'

4. 'And I like the biting,' said Harry. 'Why is this called mustard, mother?'

'Because the yellow mustard comes from it. The seeds are ground to powder.'

'And we eat the leaves. It is a useful plant.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lettuce.]